Divide and Conquer: Africa’s Oldest Wound, Our Greatest Test

The Old Story We Keep Living

Brother, the story of Africa is not just one of ancient kingdoms and glorious civilizations. It is also a story of betrayal, manipulation, and an old tactic that continues to haunt us: divide and conquer. From the Berlin Conference of 1884–85, when European powers sat around a table and carved our land like meat, to the present wars in Ethiopia and Sudan, this strategy has been used against us relentlessly. The colonizers understood one truth that too many of us forget — united Africans are unstoppable, but divided Africans are forever vulnerable.

Today, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Djibouti stand at a crossroads. We either learn from history and build peace with one another, or we allow ourselves to be trapped in the same cycle — enemies to each other, while outsiders profit from our pain.

The Berlin Conference: The Blueprint of Division

The Berlin Conference is where it all began in modern history. Not one African leader was present. European powers took a ruler and pencil, cutting straight lines through rivers, deserts, and mountains. They had no regard for tribes, kinship, or cultures.

The Afar people were split into Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Djibouti.

The Somalis were divided into five regions under British, French, Italian, and Ethiopian control.

Eritrea was separated from Ethiopia by colonial design, not by natural fate.

Why? Because the colonizers knew: a people divided are easier to manipulate. Families torn apart across borders are easier to control than nations standing proud and whole.

Divide and Rule in Practice

The blueprint became practice. In Eritrea, the Italians exploited local rivalries and armed certain groups against others. In Sudan, the British imposed the infamous “Southern Policy,” deliberately pitting northern and southern communities against each other, leaving behind fault lines that explode to this day. In Djibouti, the French privileged certain clans while marginalizing others, ensuring division remained their strongest weapon.

This same method was used everywhere: create mistrust between neighbors, fuel ethnic tension, and then step in as the “mediator” or “beneficiary.” Africa bled, while Europe and later America fed on the spoils — gold, oil, land, and now the Red Sea trade routes.

The Continuation: New Masks, Same Strategy

Even after independence, the old colonial strategy never disappeared. It just put on new masks. Today it comes in the form of:

Debt traps: forcing nations to take impossible loans, then sending commissions to oversee “restructuring” — stealing resources when payments fail.

Sanctions: isolating governments that refuse to bend, while empowering others to act as proxies.

Proxy wars: funding one side of a conflict, then the other, ensuring endless bloodshed and chaos.

Look at Ethiopia today: Afar, Amhara, and Tigray pitted against one another. Look at Sudan: a civil war that has destroyed Khartoum and opened the Red Sea to foreign militaries. Look at Eritrea: consistently painted as the villain, while outside powers fund instability at our borders.

This is no accident. It is the old playbook at work.

When Africans Stood Together

Yet, history also shows us another truth: whenever Africans united, outsiders lost their grip.

Eritrea’s liberation struggle was a story of resilience, where a small nation stood against global superpowers and emerged independent.

Kwame Nkrumah envisioned a United States of Africa, knowing that sovereignty without unity was a trap.

Nelson Mandela and the anti-apartheid struggle became symbols of what happens when solidarity overcomes division.

Each time Africans stood as one, the colonizer trembled. Each time we fell into division, they celebrated.

What’s at Stake Today

Brother, the stakes have never been higher. If we continue to fight among ourselves, the Red Sea — the lifeline of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Djibouti — will not belong to us. It will belong to foreign powers who already circle it with military bases and naval fleets. If we continue to mistrust one another, the gold of Sudan, the ports of Eritrea, and the farmlands of Ethiopia will never build African futures. They will feed Europe, America, and Asia, just as they have for centuries.

But imagine the opposite. Imagine Eritrea and Ethiopia working together, building railways from the highlands to the ports. Imagine Sudan and Djibouti joining in a pact of peace, making the Red Sea the heartbeat of African trade. Imagine the Horn of Africa standing united — not as a playground for outsiders, but as the guardian of Africa’s gateway to the world.

The Choice is Ours

History has already shown us how divide and conquer destroys. Now we must show history that Africa can rise above it. The colonizers carved us apart, but only we can stitch ourselves back together.

The time to say enough is now. Peace is not charity; it is survival. Unity is not a dream; it is our shield. Either we come together as Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti, and beyond — or we remain pawns in a game that will outlive us and curse our children.

Africa once stood as the greatest continent, and it can again. But only if we choose solidarity over division, strength over weakness, and brotherhood over betrayal.